The Possibility of Altruism

Front Cover
Princeton University Press, 1978 - Philosophy - 148 pages

Just as there are rational requirements on thought, there are rational requirements on action. This book defends a conception of ethics, and a related conception of human nature, according to which altruism is included among the basic rational requirements on desire and action.

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Contents

The Foundation of Morals
3
The Traditional Controversy
7
The Solution
13
Necessity and Interpretation
18
SUBJECTIVE REASONS AND PRUDENCE
25
Desires
27
Prudent Motives and the Present
33
Reasons
47
OBJECTIVE REASONS AND ALTRUISM
77
Altruism The Intuitive Issue
79
Objective Reasons
90
Solipsism Dissociation and the Impersonal Standpoint
99
The Interpretation of Objective Reasons
116
The Consequences
125
Conclusion
143
INDEX
147

The Interpretation of Prudential Reasons Identity over Time
57

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